Lord British Kickstarts Ultima’s Spiritual Successor Shroud of the Avatar

Earlier this week, Richard Garriott a.k.a Lord British, launched a mysterious site with a clock counting down to a huge reveal. Well, the clock has just run out and the reveal has been made.

Garriott has launched a Kickstarter for a new game project, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. Shroud of the Avatar will be the spiritual successor to the Ultima series, Garriott’s claim to fame.

Garriott is looking to take the RPG away from its current state of number crunchy grinding and instead bring it back to the days of the pencil and paper tabletop game. Instead of completing missions and watching your character’s stats go up, Garriott wants Shroud of the Avatar to actually focus on “role-playing” i.e. fleshing out a character and assuming that character’s identity.

The game will allow open world freedom, allowing you to create the story you like. “Players may choose to follow the life of the adventurer or, if they prefer, focus on exploration and discovery. Players may even choose the life of a homesteader; either nestled within the safety of the settled lands, or on the dangerous but potentially lucrative frontier. The world is full of opportunities and challenges!”

Shroud of the avatar will be both an online and offline game, offering up a host of options for multiplayer play. It will feature a classless character system, allowing you maximum flexibility in creating your dream persona. If will offer player housing in a persistent shared world, a streamlined crafting system that cuts down on the tedium, and PVP that won’t leave you screaming at your monitor and rage quitting. In short, he wants to make his dream RPG.

Garriott is asking for (cue Dr. Evil voice), one million dollars for his project. At time of writing, the project has earned just over 135,000 dollars and it’s only been open for a few hours.

For more information about Shroud of the Avatar, check out the project’s official Kickstarter page.